Twitches and Gestures
Production Episode: 19 Date: February 25, 1975 Time: Musical Director: Vocals: Choreography: Producer: Peter Whitmore Director: Writer: Dave Allen, Austin Steele and Peter Vincent Episode * Coming Up Highlights * Coming Up Cast * Dave Allen * Ronnie Brody * Jacqueline Clarke (uncredited) * Michael Sharvell-Martin * Peter Hawkins * Robert East * Doran Goodwin Quotes * Robin Hoood - "I always wondered why you were called Little John." ---- * Dave Allen - "If you want to go straight in life, don't cross your legs." ---- * Dave Allen - "I think we're getting more peculiar." (after seeing himself in the particularly surreal Tarzan sketch) ---- * Dave Allen - "I find the English to be a very extraordinary nation because you accept the Scots, you tolerate the Irish, but for some reason or another, you don't like the Welsh." ---- * Dave Allen - "We have two types of Irish. We have Irish and we have Anglo-Irish, and you can always tell the Anglo-Irish because they all wear tweed and carry shotguns..." (pausing) "...and live in London." ---- * Dave Allen - "Everyone loves to dress up. There is a ham in all of us, and a lot of you are Jewish." ---- * Dave Allen - (playing Dracula) "Are you surprised we vampires sleep all day?" Trivia * The sketch with Dave as the Pope removing his papal vestments on the steps of the Vatican to the stripping tune garnered the greatest offense than any other religious sketch on the series. In the end, a spokesman for the Vatican was quoted: "We do not object to jokes about the Roman Catholic church as long as they are in good taste. People must not be too sensitive about that. We like to think we have a sense of humor. * Robin Hood is a semi-historical figure (1160-1247) whose exploits were the basis of several tales beginning with "A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode" in 1510 and reaching to modern literature and motion pictures. It's believed the original story was based on the tale of Robert Fitztooth, 12th Century Earl of Huntingdon who had escaped his debts by retiring into a solitary existence in the woods. Some scholars believe there was not just one Robin Hood, but several whose stories merged to one. * One of Dave's favorite recurring characters is Tarzan from the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel, "Tarzan the Ape-Man". * The MacBeth Scene is from MacBeth Act V Scene I. * "Elementary, my dear Watson..." Sherlock Holmes never said this in any of his books. The closest version of it appears in "The Crooked Man" published first in 1893 and included in "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" published in 1894 where Holmes says a brief "Elementary" after observations from his friend and colleague, Dr. Watson. * In the sketch where the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury meets the Pope, the scene ends with the theme of "Dance of the Cuckoos," the theme music behind the Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy shorts. * In the funeral sketches, Dave describes a fictional actor named Irving Rose who played nothing but villains. * Jacqueline Clarke: "Romeo, Romeo, where are thou, Romeo?" Jacqueline is quoting Act Two, Scene Two from Romeo and Juliet, the play by William Shakespeare. * Recurring series characters and themes: Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood, Dr. Frankenstein, Napoleon, Dracula and the Catholic Church Sequence * Last Episode: Midas, Cinderella and Robin Hood * Next Episode: Dave on Cinema 3 Category: Episodes Category: Dave Allen Episodes Category: BBC Episodes Category: 1975 Episodes